What's for dinner? The good, the bad & the ugly!

[cruiselubbers]

dzcruisers....

Only seen escargot one night....the last night of our cruise this past Wednesday night. Actually on a dare from one of our tablemates....6 of us in total....I did wind up eating one! Yes, I ate one of my pets!! It wasn't to bad, but no thanks no more for me! Actually I winded up having a slight allergic reaction to the one I had. I decided that they tasted alot like a harder chunk of lobster marinated in lots of garlic butter. BTW....4 of us out of 6 had escargot....my hubby was NOT one of them! One of the other girls only had a small bite....the other two eaters were male.

 

I never did remember to order my pbj to my room....actually never ordered room service.

 

The salmon on bagel with cream cheese with onion in the deli was absolutly divine!

 

The lobster was great....I had two, but definitly as one other poster posted not the same as fresh Maine lobster.

 

The cold soups were a bit depressing, I never found one that I liked and the mango was soured.

 

If anyone wants to know about a specific food, just ask, if I ate it I'll be more the glad to share my opinion on it.

 

We had a great time and we're booking 2 more cruises for this year!

 

I'll have a full review of the Inspiration in a few days!

 

Be blessed, be a blessing! :p

[cruiselubbers]

Oh yes, the Tiger shrimp was delicious as were all the pastas & fish.

 

Be blessed, be a blessing! :p

[aprilivy]

Anything in Sur Mur on the CONQUEST - terrific find!!

[Molly BPOE]

The WORST: Eggs Benedict in the dining room, normally my favorite on land, but pure disgusting on Carnival (the Hollendaise was baked on top of very rubbery eggs:eek: )

The BEST: Breakfast from room service, we ordered the same thing every morning after the eggs benedict fiasco. Bagels, cream cheese, lox, danish a pot of coffee, orange juice and tomato juice. YUM. The roasted pumpkin soup was wonderful.

[viciouslysh]

The only thing that stands out that I didn't like was QUAIL. Too gamey for me.:( Everything else was fantastic!

[fatsassygirl]

one day for lunch we ordered the antipasta platter as an appetizer expecting olives and cheese and roasted red peppers etc - instead we got very fresh calamari with the little tentacles and all - eeek! also i got a panna cotta type custardy dessert of the day from room service that came out of my mouth as fast as it went in...

 

one night i got a sausage and peppers and pasta entree that i sent back - it tasted like a bad frozen weight watchers dinner

 

i could have eaten 5 of the molten chocolate cakes; ny strip off the alternative menu was a really good steak

[CruzCra-Z]

This was my favborite. The surf and turf in the Dinner Club on the Legend.

 

I had the same thing at the Golden Fleece.... yummy! Funny how it doesn't look like that much but I couldn't eat it all...

[megansdad1]

The dinner club gives you so much food before hand. After an appitizer, rolls and butter and a big salad, It is tough to finish all of the food. I did also like the dessert...ummmm trio of chocolate

[MikeyP]

The WORST: Eggs Benedict in the dining room, normally my favorite on land, but pure disgusting on Carnival (the Hollendaise was baked on top of very rubbery eggs:eek: )

 

Had em the other day on the Glory. Yeah, I think that they microwaved them instead of poaching them. Understandable, but I think that maybe they cook them too much?

 

I have to say, I wasn't crazy about their breakfast buffet or their room service breakfast in the least (with the latter part being an acceptable option for early ports or on disembarkation day).

[divvy23]

I love the escargot and cold soups!

 

I agree here, but I also love their warm soups, or at least most.

 

Originally Posted by Molly BPOE

The WORST: Eggs Benedict in the dining room, normally my favorite on land, but pure disgusting on Carnival (the Hollendaise was baked on top of very rubbery eggs:eek: )

 

Again, I am agreeing whole-heartedly, DEEEESGUSTING! I love Eggs Benedict and these had a strange baked on orange sort of cheesy almost sauce (if that's what you can call it). Gross....I picked around it, ate the muffin, the sides and grabbed a danish later!

 

I LOVE Carnival's pizza....the goat cheese with mushrooms is my absolute fave...Yummmy! :p

 

I have to say, although I have seen many people going wild for them, I do NOT like the lobster. It's not that I don't care for lobster, I do love it, however I have never found a lobster on Carnival that wasn't grossly overcooked.

 

I had duck that was quite good, along with many other dining room choices.

 

I have yet to make it to a late night buffet but am damned and determined to make the next Mexican one that is available as I hear it's pretty good (I'm from New Jersey/New York metro area and it's hard to find good Mexican).

 

The deli is pretty good, my fiancé and I usually get a smoked salmon w/ cream cheese and bagel the first afternoon to hold us over so we can have a couple of cocktails.

 

The roast beef and Brie on baguette w/ mustard is a good room service choice as well.

 

I am SO disappointed that on our last cruise they did away with those yummy hash brown potato coin/patty things that they had. We loved them, and were not nearly as happy with the "new" breakfast potatoes they are serving. Seriously, my fiancé keeps telling me to write and complain. LOL :D

 

One complaint or tip, however you choose to take it....I do NOT care for their iced tea (and their hot isn't all that great either), so I pack some tea bags and make my own....add ice it's cold. Better than Carnival's.

 

And P.S. On the last night when they do the Baked Alaska, umm, it's nothing more than ice cream pretty much, so don't get excited and think you're going to have something with a warmish crisp outside and cold center....oh and the cherries jubilee is not flamed (guess they need to think about safety while you're cruising the ocean aboard a boat).

 

That's my two cents....Enjoy!

[cruisinCLT]

The pizza on the elation was excellent. The Deli on both the conquest and the elation was awesome! my favorite thing on the Elation in the dinning room was the sweet and sour shrimp. It's a must try!

[Beachgirl6479]

How is the Key Lime Pie?

MY favorite dessert :)

 

I don't wish to brag, but I make the BEST in the world Key Lime Cheescake. .

 

LovetheSea, I have to ask, is this Emeril's Keylime cheesecake recipe? It looks very similar to one I have from him, and it is indeed awesome, not to sweet, not to tarte...and creemy!

 

Okay, I know this will probably tick off some people off, and it was only aboard the Inspiration, but the worst thing I've had aboard Carnival was the caesar salad. I know it's usually made with anchovies, but the salad I had aboard the Inspiration tasted like it had been marinated over night in rotten fish. The lettice was mushy, the dressing was way to fishy...it was awful!

 

The best things I've had on Carnival are any of their soups, and the jerk pork tenderloin.

[divvy23]

Okay, I know this will probably tick off some people off, and it was only aboard the Inspiration, but the worst thing I've had aboard Carnival was the caesar salad. I know it's usually made with anchovies, but the salad I had aboard the Inspiration tasted like it had been marinated over night in rotten fish. The lettice was mushy, the dressing was way to fishy...it was awful!

 

 

 

 

I 2nd that!!!! Oh god, I love caesar salad...I live in the NYC/NJ metro area and have frequented many an Italian restaurant, I have had excellent caesar salad's before....but this can be bad.

 

I have had it where it was good....but more than once I got it and it was FISHY, MUSHY, and slightly BROWN. Big turn-off. I don't order it anymore. :(

[obx_fintoo]

I was thinking the same thing. I knew that somebody else was going to say this. Ours was served on the Holiday during a lunch buffet. Those things were NASTY!!! My husband couldn't believe that I even put them on my plate let alone actually put them in my mouth. They were so chewy and the taste was disgusting. Needless to say they ended up in the garbage. I'm still not sure what they were though. It looked like a minature octopus. This is one of those things you just never forget.

 

 

LOL!! They are called Calamari or squid. I think they are delicious. Several days they serve a squid salad on the buffet that is basically the "mini octopi" and red onions! DH and I fill up a plate of just this!

 

To each his/her own!

 

And BTW, love the escargot too! Like someone said early on, tastes like garlic and butter!

[Drew B]

I'm a big fan of the soups. I can't decide which of the following is my favorite: Roasted pumpkin soup, strawberry bisque, or cream of wild mushroom. I was very sad that the pumpkin soup and the strawberry bisque were on the same menu, but I just got BOTH...

[Thirsty Cruiser]

I'm a big fan of the soups. I can't decide which of the following is my favorite: Roasted pumpkin soup, strawberry bisque, or cream of wild mushroom. I was very sad that the pumpkin soup and the strawberry bisque were on the same menu, but I just got BOTH...

 

I may be alone here, but how many people have ordered the "orange sory" soup? It is a cold soup that tastes something like a creamsickle. My son and I make a point of ordering it just so we can work it into a sentence:

"Sory I am taking so long to eat this", or "Sory, this bowl is empty".

 

Anyone else make sory jokes -- like I said, may just be me :-)

[divvy23]

 

Anyone else make sory jokes -- like I said, may just be me :-)

 

Sory, ;) I can't say that I've had this soup....But since orange creamsicles make me gag maybe I should steer clear of this one! LOL

 

:D

 

I love the cream of wild mushroom, and the gazpacho was good too.

[pink roses]

I also had the antipasto dish and yes it was unappealing to look at as well as to eat. This was a lunch day in the dining room, since we had already decided to go to the lido for dessert since the choc. buffet was going on we just grabbed something else to eat there.

EVERYTHING else I have ever ordered has been wonderful.

I do not even know where to begin I love the smoked salmon and it is even available on the breakfast delivered to you room.

The lobster is great. I love almost all of their seafood selections. I am not a big steak eater but have enjoyed everyone I have had on my cruises. I love the study of sushi, california rolls.

I prefer the dining rooms to the lido deck, it is fun to be waited on.You can see which cruises I have been on by my footnotes, all have been equally good as far as the food went. Service was BEST on the Elation and Holiday.

[beansatw]

My favorite meal on the Miracle was the porterhouse steak served at Nick & Noras. It was...to put it kindly...killer.

 

Dining room faves included the tom turkey, the filet mignon, and any dessert that included the word "chocolate". I wasn't impressed with the lamb, and the basil ice cream was horrific. (We offended our server though - she said it was her favorite. To each their own, I suppose.)

 

But I've discovered that few things in this world are better than a big bowl of Carnival french fries while sitting on your balcony watching the "drunk crawl" back up the pier in Cozumel. It was a meal AND a show!!! :D

[divvy23]

But I've discovered that few things in this world are better than a big bowl of Carnival french fries while sitting on your balcony watching the "drunk crawl" back up the pier in Cozumel. It was a meal AND a show!!! :D

 

Hmm....What ship and date was this as I may have been one of the "drunks", oh no wait...that was in Playa Del Carmen (better known as Calica, the crappy port), and Barbados.:p

 

P.S. Have you tried the fries topped w/ chili?? You know, the chili they put out for hot dogs on the lido deck....mmm, Yumm!

[psychboss]

We cruised on the Triumph last Feb. It has been my only CCL cruise. All in all it was fine. Carnival offers a fine product for the money for many people it is perfect. We sailed with a group and it met the needs of our group perfectly! But in my opinion the food was very average.

 

The items that I thought were very good were the lobster tail, cooked very well, not overdone; the shrimp cocktail; and the chocolate melting cake.

 

The strip steak was pretty much the quality you would get a a Denny's restaurant. I admit I expect gourmet food aboard a cruise ship. CCL's was not.

 

The BEST food we have ever had from a cruise ship consistently is by far - Celebrity! We have NEVER been disappointed with anything we ordered aboard the Summit or Infinity. They also have a great wine list.

[jhsieh]

Anyone ever tried head cheese? My dad tricked me into trying this on a cruise once.:eek: It was BY FAR, the nastiest thing I have ever eaten. Do they even have this on the ships anymore?:eek: :eek: :eek: :)

[jedg22]

Last May we did the Liberty Mediterranean cruise...the soft shell crabs were amazing ! We're close to the S. Jersey shore and these were as good/better then any we've had at home. We also liked the fried oysters at the fish and chips bar. And the pizza goes without saying !

[mjmiller]

My dh and I prefer Carnival food over the other cruiselines we have been on. Not even a question in our minds. And now it does sound like there are new items we have to try....

 

How many faves do I get to choose? ;-) Love the goat cheese and mushroom pizza, escargot (nummy snail!), pumpkin soup, cream of mushroom soup, Grand Marnier souffle, chicken satay, crab legs (do they still serve them?). And of course just about any chocolate dessert! DH loves some of the cold soups and the key lime pie.

 

Can't go wrong with the pasta dishes. I don't remember specific steak/chicken/fish items, but almost all of them were great.

 

I didn't like the beef wellington. The scrambled eggs on the buffet are disgusting (to me!). I try to avoid most of the buffet food, actually, and head over to the deli or the grill for lunch. The Eggs Benedict were pretty yucky.

 

And yes - we're the ones who want to try everything. lol We love cruising with other folks we know so we can share and sample. One night four of us had 9 entrees and 13 desserts, plus appetizers etc. (ok, that was a major "record" for us; we didn't have much for lunch that day!)

[jpmaximus]

The salmon on the last night of my Legend cruise was "out of this world" i savored every bite!